Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Here’s an
interesting one. I sent Mrs Cake out to pick up a bottle of Aldi’s Ballycastle
Premium Irish Cream to accompany us to the family Christmas in Fleet last year…
and she forgot – but not entirely. She’d already been in Aldi and had gotten to
Tesco when she remembered. She considered Bailey’s but, much more
interestingly, plumped for this. This is Merlyn
Welsh Cream and it is made with malted barley spirit from the Penderyn distillery.

It is housed in a
black, matt, Bruichladdich-style bottle
that the Penderyn website calls modern, with a red strip label that, together
with the bottle, signifies the premium nature of the brand – it also says.
Sounds like a pitch from The Apprentice to
me. The writing is described as “hand drawn calligraphy” and “reflects its
smooth and mellow flavour”. Quite how, I’m not sure but we’ll go with it. It
goes on in the tasting notes to describe nose and palate impressions before
backing out of describing the finish as it is “too complex to describe”. May as
well not bother then.

They apparently
produce just one cask of spirit per day as they use only the finest malted
barley. That’s nice because, you know, it’s not like everyone else claims to
use only the finest malted barley. Does that even mean anything? Does it mean
they don’t make any of this finest malted barley into whisky, or does it mean
they set aside one cask per day for making the welsh cream, while the rest goes
to making the Penderyn whisky? Anyway, they bottle it at a commendable 17
ABVs and while it normally retails
around £17, this bottle was only £10. At £10 it’s good value, at £17 much less
so.

A quick nose around
the interwebs has revealed that the Merlyn has really tickled the fancy of a
few people – many proclaiming it to be better than Baileys. Shall we give it an
evaluation of our own then?

Let’s see, it’s much
lighter in colour than I’ve come to expect from Irish cream. It smells malty
and tastes milky and, while it’s quite thin, you can taste the whisky – or perhaps more accurately,
malt barley spirit – it won’t have been aged long enough (or at all) to be able
to be called whisky. The balance is good; not too sweet. This is probably where
some people’s preference over Baileys comes in. I actually prefer Baileys – and
even the Ballycastle Premium – they are more like desserts, while this one is
more the consistency and style of an iced coffee. It’s pleasant enough for a
change, but it’s never going to be my favourite of the genre.

That's it for this week; just a quick one. Next week I think I'll be evaluating an Islay classic - the Bunnahabhain 12. See you then.

Tuesday, 20 October 2015

I’m looking at
another bottle that I collected from Berlin this week; Maldoror absinthe.

Purchased from the
designated Absinth Depot in Berlin,
Maldoror has a claim to fame as (at the time of writing) the world’s first blended absinthe – and that isn’t seen
as a bad thing. It’s a German product, but it is blended from Czech, French and
Swiss absinthes. It is bottled at a friendly 66.6 ABVs and was around 55 euros
for a litre.

As ever, I opened it
in the presence of other heavy drinkers and we elected to use the backdraft method as a quick and easy way
to get it into our systems in advance of the poker that a shot of absinthe has
recently become a prerequisite to. You might want to think carefully before you
incorporate that into your games since the play can get pretty messy and, if
you’re intending to follow it up with some fine whisky, you might find you’re
unable to overcome its influence and enjoy the particular charms of your
designated spirit.

The next day I tried
it on my own, adding just a few measures of ice water. It louched up real good, but I’m afraid it isn’t something I’m going
to be able to come around to sipping like this. There is a bitter finish that
makes it unpleasant to consume this way. In all fairness, all absinthe I had
tried so far has been like this, though online reviews have suggested some
absinthes aren’t bitter. That remains to be seen.

The next thing was
to try with sugar.

I tried that at a
new year party with a bastardisation of the bohemian method. Sadly I was unable
to get the sugar to dissolve on this occasion, so it wasn’t entirely pleasant. I’ve
since figured out that I was doing it wrong since I think you’re supposed to
stir the sugary spoon in and stir while it’s all still lit, which I didn’t, so I’ll
try again when I have occasion to. Sadly those kind of occasions just aren’t
coming around – I never want to get that smashed too quickly and I always want
to be able to taste something else afterwards, so I literally can’t fit it into
my schedule. Frankly, a litre is far too much absinthe to have. I really made a
mistake there, and have about a third of a bottle left now. It is very unusual that I get to post on a
bottle before I’ve actually finished it, but this time, that’s the case.

I’d like to finish
off by telling you something useful that will help you to select this product
(or not this product) over any other brand of absinthe, but sadly I can’t. I
just can’t say whether it’s any better or worse than any other bitter,
aniseedy, super-strength brain destroyer.

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Welcome to part 3 of
my new series in which I evaluate the various spirits I brought back from Amsterdamand Berlin… actually around a year ago now. Shows how far behind I am with
the writing of things, doesn’t it? A quick apology too; I don't seem to have a proper picture of it. Sometimes these things happen, ok?

Well, I really need
to cobble something together here, as looking over my notes, I haven’t managed
to write too much about this up to now.

I picked it up from
Berlin’s Finest Whisky on the
recommendation of the proprietor there, and it was 22 euros 50 for 70cl and 38
ABVs. As I stated in my earlier travelogue (if you can call it that), going in
favour of Berliner Brandstifter (arsonist) was that only 1000 bottles are
produced every year, that each is individually numbered – something sought out
in the scotch whisky world – and the stated unique selling point that this
brand of korn (essentially German vodka) has been filtered so many times that
everything that could possibly give you a hangover has been taken out of it –
presumably including 2% of the alcohol. How they found the specific 2% that
causes headaches, anxiety and insatiable thirst, we just don’t know.

There’s a problem
with that last claim anyway; I’m never going to drink enough of it, on its own,
to give me a hangover – I’m always mixing my drinks, and I seldom have more
than one glass of any particular product in an evening. So I was never going to
find out whether it is possible to have a hangover or not from drinking the
Brandstifter. Being an experimental booze blogger, you’d think I’d be
interested in finding out, wouldn’t you? But I’m not. I’m far more interested
in enjoying this at my own pace and in comparison with tried and tested vodkas
to see which I prefer.

I’ve read also that
Berliner Branstifter is best served neat at 1 degree in a frosted shot glass – but
is drinking vodka worth that much effort? How do you achieve this one degree?
Isn’t putting it in a frosted shot glass enough?Again, I never actually found
out as I was just enjoying it neat and at room temperature, as you should be
able to enjoy all spirits.

It is nice, taken on
its own terms, and if you like vodka – probably about as good as the Stoli Red,
though 2 ABVs lighter and a few pounds pricier.

In fact, in a
direct, blind taste test against the Stoli Red I actually made the incorrect
idenitification. Yes, sorry to shatter your illusions, but I am only human
after all. I decided though, that Mrs Cake had provided verification too soon
and should have allowed me to finish the samples and change my mind before revealing
the true identities of our combatants.

Nevertheless, there
was very little to choose between them. The Berliner was smoother with a less
tart finish and, while I initially put this down to the seven times filtration,
it later occurred to me that it might be the lower ABV. This also led me to
conclude that it might be slightly less interesting and complex than the Stoli.
Still, in terms of flavour, very comparable.

Pablo, of Much of a muchnessfame was very
impressed with the Brandstifter. I told him it was basically German vodka and
he said it lacked that “hairspray” taste that vodka tends to have, and you can
understand that he considered this a good thing. I followed it up with a Stoli
Red to see what he thought in comparison, and he preferred the Brandstifter.

As far as I’m
concerned, I have concluded that it doesn’t quite trouble the Stoli at the top
of my vodka rankings. After all, it is weaker and a bit more expensive. It is worth a try though, and if you are the
kind of person who drinks a bottle of vodka in a night, this could be the
answer to your prayers.

Right, that’s it.
I’ve tried padding this out, and I’m out of ideas. I’ll be back next week, no
doubt trying to pad out part 4 of this odyssey, when I’ll be looking at
Maldoror absinthe.

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Following on from
last week’s post in which we looked at one of the spirits I brought back from
my Berlinsterdam adventure, this weekwe’re looking at another – Asbach
Urbrand brandy (40 ABVs). This was the first bottle I decided to open, as all
the others appealed to opening at parties or in the presence of particular
friends.

I’ve been asking for
some time whether it is possible to get great brandy at a decent price (like it
is with whisky), though in all fairness I haven’t been trying that hard. I
certainly haven’t been able to answer in the affirmative yet, but while I
always keep a bottle of brandy in stock, it isn’t a spirit I delve into all
that often. Neverthelss, with this German brandy, it looks like I’d done it.
Seriously; this is going straight to number 1. I don’t normally like to blow my
load like that straight away, but I’m so thrilled and it’s so rare to find such
a brandy that I just can’t wait.

The Asbach Urbrand
has a hint of new trainers on the nose (and in no way is that a bad thing – I
love the smell of new trainers), a body like silk and a complexity of flavour I
just haven’t found in brandy before. To top things off, there’s a pleasant
alcohol bite, just to let you know you’re drinking the good stuff. Not a note
out of place, from the fruit to the candy to the spice tones; just superb.

My only gripe is
that I had to use a knife in order to get the cap off; it wasn’t anchored so it
just kept turning round and round instead of unscrewing. I couldn’t get a
decent grip on the seal with my sausage fingers, so in the end I had to slice through
the joins and now the cap won’t seal properly. Instead it does that annoying
thing where it goes from almost but not
quite tight to completely unscrewed
and back again ad infinitum when you try to seal it until you have to make a
decision as to where you think might be
sufficient to keep the goodness fresh. On top of that, it was a plastic bottle,
which is good for not adding weight to your baggage, but having bought it at
the airport, that wasn’t really a consideration anyway.

Putting that aside,
at 9 euros for half a litre, this is top notch. I really wasn’t expecting much,
and had almost decided not to buy anything in Duty Free that day, but with my
Carlos I almost gone and brandy specifically being something I’d been looking
for, I had to, and I’m glad I did. Keep an eye out for this as you’re passing
though the German airports; it’s worth a punt.

Next week (assuming
I can finish writing it to my satisfaction), I’ll be presenting part 3 of this
series and looking at German korn
with Berliner Brandstifter. See you
back here for that.

Definitions

What happens when you zone out after having had a cheeky lunchtime pint.

Alcothusiast:

Not an alcoholic, someone who appreciates booze.

Anxiety, The:

The uneasy feeling that accompanies any noteworthy hangover.

Booze Buffet Mentality:

The propensity people have to go nuts whenever there's a free bar.

Booze Porn:Photos of alcohol.

Bread Chest:Not booze related, but this term describes the indigestion you get from eating too many bread products too quickly. Just putting it out there...

Crawler's Block:The inability to decide where to go next during a pub crawl - often resulting in crawl stagnation and someone saying, "shall we just have another one here?"

Crawl Stagnation:The result of failing to plan a pub crawl sufficiently - lack of a route, theme or over-familiarity with nearby pubs can all be contributing factors.

Excess Induced Alcohol Aversion:An intolerance for a drink caused (usually) by one occasion of overindulgence.

The Family:My whisky collection.

MOMA:

Moment of Maximum Appreciation. Every bottle has one. It's the time you drink it where you enjoy it most.

Old Man Pub:Traditional British pub, renowned for being quiet, cosy and frequented by old men. Much favoured by people who like a nice chat while they drink.Psychological Drinks Cabinet:Collective term relating to the kinds of alcoholic drinks a person has need for.Road Beers:

Cans of beer that you take with you when you go out, to consume on the way.

The 3 Types of Rum:White, gold and dark. Together they form the base of many a great cocktail.

About Me

Neil Cake is interested in all types of booze, but is by no means an authority or expert. Most of the time he's just trying to be funny, but he is learning, and enjoys sharing his adventures and what he learns on the Drink it How You Like it blog.
Thengyuverrymuuuuuch.